Xref: utzoo comp.unix.xenix.sco:525 comp.unix.misc:363 comp.unix.sysv386:1328 comp.unix.internals:698 comp.unix.questions:26297 Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!rutgers!usc!wuarchive!udel!haven!decuac!hussar.dco.dec.com!mjr From: mjr@hussar.dco.dec.com (Marcus J. Ranum) Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix.sco,comp.unix.misc,comp.unix.sysv386,comp.unix.internals,comp.unix.questions Subject: Re: Summary of Request for Comparison of Altos and NCR Keywords: summary Altos NCR comparison Message-ID: <1990Oct18.031929.25259@decuac.dec.com> Date: 18 Oct 90 03:19:29 GMT References: <11@ACT.UUCP> <505@wybbs.mi.org> Sender: news@decuac.dec.com (Network News) Reply-To: mjr@hussar.dco.dec.com (Marcus J. Ranum) Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Washington Ultrix Resource Center Lines: 38 In article <505@wybbs.mi.org> sleepy@wybbs.UUCP (Mike Faber) writes: >In article peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) writes: >> >>We've got a 68000-based (yes, the old one) UNIX box that blows our 386 >>boxes out of the water. For multiuser use the surrounding hardware is >>at least as important as the CPU. > >Thank you. I've been saying (to my boss mostly) that the disk speed and >quantity are the REAL deciding factors in a resonably designed system. >In my opinion, the only thing you need a CPU for in a typical DBMS computer >is to direct traffic, and make an occasional computation here and there. For truly optimal performance, you should choose your hardware based on your expected demands, not such general statements like "I/O bandwidth is most important" or "lots of RAM never hurts" or "how many MIPS has that thang got?". Ideally, before going into a computer buy you should know roughly what your load is - presumably some Real Life Accounting Information might help a lot. Monitoring the performance characteristics of any current (or similar) systems to see what their shortcomings are doesn't hurt any, either. If you just say flat out, "you need MIPS" - you're wrong. The correct answer is ALWAYS, "It depends." Lots of I/O bandwidth isn't going to help a lot if all the machine does is ray-traces. The best way to get optimal performance for your dollar is to buy a balanced machine. Balanced for your expected usage. You don't go out and buy a Testarossa if you live in LA or someplace that's a wall to wall traffic jam, and you don't buy a Yugo if you're planning on running at Indy. (Ok, some tacky folks in LA buy Testarossas and sit in the freeway idling - your computer can do roughly the same thing). mjr. -- Nothing is beautiful unless it is large. Vastness and immensity can make you forget a great many weaknesses. - Emperor Napoleon I